Obama rounds out econ team ahead of jobs speech

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama tapped labor economist Alan Krueger for a top administration post Monday, rounding out his White House economic team ahead of a highly-anticipated announcement next week on a new jobs initiative.

Obama announced Krueger's nomination to chair the White House Council of Economic Advisers in a Rose Garden ceremony Monday morning. The president said he expected Krueger, a former Treasury Department official and Princeton economist, to provide him with unvarnished economic guidance, not partisan political advice.

"That's more important than ever right now," Obama said. "We need folks in Washington to make decisions based on what's best for the country, not what's best for any political party or special interest."

With the nation's unemployment rate stubbornly stuck above 9 percent and much of the public deeply dissatisfied with Obama's handling of the economy, the president has promised a new set of jobs proposals. He said Monday that he would make those announcements next week.

"Our great challenge as a nation remains how to get this economy growing faster," Obama said. "That's our urgent mission."